The way I understand "gleaming".
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/212742.aspx
Scroll down and read Jeffrey's post.
Mike.
My You Tube
The gleaming will always clean better. The sandpaper is removing metal which exposes the pristine metal underneath.
The better question is which method last longest on the layout.
Perhaps outside is unnecessary.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Why would you need to "experiment" with track that is outside unless the layout itself has outdoor track ?
1 I will not be using any polishes or such, just elbow grease and alcohol.
2 the club members have never heard of the process and aren't willing to try it on the layout.
To get a more accurate test, you should "gleem" a section of the layout that will recieve the same amout of traffic as the rest of the layout that is track cleaned by your current method. I don't care for the polishing (gleeming) method. the polish has waxes or other protective silicone products that will make the rails slippery. It's not like car wax and any buildup, but cleaning with alcohol, or other solvent, I feel just does a better job.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Control, is the roughly 1,000 feet of mainline on the club layout.
The goal, is to get a result that is clener than the main, if that is achieved then I will seek to continue the experiment on parts of the layout and have that section be used as an alternate main or shoofly, as if the main is closed.
The process, I am going to start by cleaning the track with alcohol and acetone, then I polish with 400 grit sandpaper, increase grit by 400 all the way up to 4000, then I will take a razor scraper and lightly scrape the track, then I'll use a piece of stainless steel to burnish, then clean again and let sit.
If the results are unsatisfactory I will change the process and try again.
My goal right now is not to determine the best track and best process to clean said track, but if a certain process achieves a cleaner result than what the club is currently doing to "clean track", which usually ends in having to start over again, which has gotten tedious.
Is this to be a 'pass/fail' type of test? If so, what criterion will you use? How do you intend to measure results and at what point in the range of possible values or scores will you deem the results to be indicative of a pass or fail? Why pick that value? This has to be explained.
These questions are important because most of us will want to be convinced of the efficacy of the gleaming process COMPARED TO what we are doing currently if not using gleaming. Which is better to keep doing, or will the gleam be markedly better and worth our while?
To make this clear, I could take eight (8) pieces of flex and lay half of them indoors and half outdoors. One in each case would get 600 grit paper only, one in each case would be treated with a Bright Boy only, one in each case would be gleamed, and one in each case would be left untreated.
That would be for Brand A's flex track. And only the batch or run of track in hand...other runs might have slightly, but importantly, different metallurgy. Would Brand B's metallurgy offer different results over time? If so, how would you learn of it, and how would you account for it? You'd have to test Brand B's track....and COMPARE it to Brand A's.
As stated earlier, an 'experiment' has to have an answerable question, testable hypothesis, verifiable results, and yield a result with a least a modicum of predictive validity (that's very important).
It's just not as easy as taking two pieces of track, laying one of them outdoors, and then rubbing both of them a certain way in an attempt to establish if your method of rubbing makes either piece better than the other on a performance dimension, or better than other lengths of track for some reason you haven't deduced. About the best you can determine here is, with Brand A's track, the indoors or outdoors track will respond better to the method used to remove contaminants that might impede electrical contact between metal tires on rolling stock and the rails.
Experiment?
I see there's no description of the protocol. Except that the track will be left in two places. Presumably with one sample "gleamed", and another not.
What will you be testing for? How will you be doing it? Are there variables you will control for?
With experiments, these are questions that are answered before the experiment starts, not after.
Ed
Tinplate Toddler I don´t want to rain on your parade, but the pros and cons of gleaming have been discussed at length over the past years, which you would have known, if you had cared to conduct a search for it. I don´t think it will add if you post your own experience, which should be no different from what others have found out.
I don´t want to rain on your parade, but the pros and cons of gleaming have been discussed at length over the past years, which you would have known, if you had cared to conduct a search for it. I don´t think it will add if you post your own experience, which should be no different from what others have found out.
Disagreed - Its encouraged for forum members to post their experiences to share with others who care. I think Steven should share his findings!
Tinplate Toddler Furthermore, I´d like to ask you to be a little bit more descriptive in the title of your threads, so people know what it will be about and do not waste their time looking at a thread they are not interested in. After all, this is a forum and not a highschool newspaper, nor is it Facebook or Twitter, where you´d want to make "friends" and collect "likes".
Furthermore, I´d like to ask you to be a little bit more descriptive in the title of your threads, so people know what it will be about and do not waste their time looking at a thread they are not interested in. After all, this is a forum and not a highschool newspaper, nor is it Facebook or Twitter, where you´d want to make "friends" and collect "likes".
The title should be changed to something more descriptive of the topic. That I agree with.
Steven - be sure to update us with the results!
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
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Steven,
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
OK I got permission from the club president to begin experimenting with gleaming, I'm going to use some extra flex track for this experiment, I'll be leaving the track out in the layout room and outside as well, I'll be reporting the results here.